History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 80

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790

USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania > Part 80

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Portions of the Samuel Calhoun tracts became vested in Robert Orr, for some of which a patent was granted to him October 9, 1842. He conveyed 111 acres and 88 perches, consisting partly of the

374

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

smaller Calhoun tract and partly of " Amherst," to Joseph Starr, February 9, 1853, for $892, and which, with 18 acres and 15 perches of one of the Collins tracts, the latter conveyed to James Walker, the present owner, January 10, 1857, for $1,700.27. Orr conveyed a small part covered by that patent, and a part of " Amherst," aggregating 213 acres and 66 perches, to George Sheckler, December 15, 1856, for $756. For several years after 1856 Barton W. Blanchard manufactured fanning-mills in this part of the township.

Passing the small portion of "Pine Grove," below Pine creek, on which are the Sloan mills, was the Steel Semple tract, covered by warrant No. 748, 178 acres and 84 perches, which, having be- come vested in Robert Brown, the patent therefor was granted to him May 15, 1828, 106 acres of which he conveyed to Walter Sloan June 7, for $306, and the residue, 783 acres, in the southern part of the tract, including the month of Hays' run, to David White, Jr., August 4, for $130, to which the latter removed from one of the herein- after-mentioned Collins tracts. He operated a dis- tillery near the mouth of Hays' run during a por- tion of the time while he resided here. He con- veyed 2 acres of this parcel to John Howard, Feb- ruary 26, 1846, for $25, and 110 acres to Joseph K. and James A. Lowry, June 20, 1851, for $1,000, on which they erected a two-story sawmill near the mouth of the run, with a twenty-foot overshot wheel, and a two-story frame dwelling-house, which buildings, with 2 acres of curtilage, were conveyed, September 6, 1855, by Joseph Clark, then sheriff of this county, to John J. Sloan for $615. Joseph K. conveyed his interest in the whole parcel to J. A. Lowry, August 11, 1854, and the latter's interest therein was conveyed by the same officer to Robert E. Brown, who purchased an undivided moiety for himself and the other for James E. Brown, Decem- ber 12, 1855, for $320. That sawmill, not having been used for several years, is in a state of de- cadence. Hays' run, on which it is situated, tradition says, was so called after an Indian bear- ing the English name of John Ilays, who resided on it in early times. Indians, probably Senecas or Cornplanters, had a camp on this stream, abont 300 rods in an airline from its mouth, and about two miles from Pine Creek Furnace, in the early part of this century.

Next below that tract along the river was one of the Collins tracts, elsewhere noticed. Next below that one was a tract called "Monticello," 263 acres and 63 perches, including in its south- western corner the mouth of the Cowanshannock, the patent for which was granted to Robert

Semple, November 22, 1802. He devised it by his will, dated August 10, 1808, to his wife, Elizabeth Semple, who conveyed it, August 9, 1809, to Robert Beatty for $900. He erected a gristmill and saw- mill on it the next year, a short distance above the mouth of the Cowanshannock, with which he was assessed until 1813, which, with the entire tract, he conveyed to David Loy, of Bedford county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1813, who conveyed the same, February 19, 1818, to Robert Brown for $4,000, which, with 47 acres and 53 perches of the adjoining Nicholson tract, he conveyed to his son, Robert E. Brown, October 11, 1841. The two- story brick mansion house was built by him in 1842.

Matthias Bowser, a brother-in-law of David Loy, was assessed with those mills from 1814 till 1819; Robert Brown from then until 1827, and with a distillery from 1826 till 1828; Isaac Cun- ningham with those mills from 1827 till 1828; John P. Brown from then until 1837, and Robert E. Brown from 1842 until 1863. He turned out large quantities of lumber from the sawmill prior to 1859, among which was the material for the Pipe- town, or upper covered, bridge at Pittsburgh. The fall of water in the Cowanshannock for the first mile above its mouth is over 100 feet. Notwith- standing the advantage of so great a water-power, that large flouring-mill and the sawmill were taken down in 1866-7, and their material used for other purposes about Monticello Furnace.

This furnace, at first a charcoal and then a coke hot-blast one, was erected by Robert E. Brown, in 1859, about 175 rods up the river from the mouth of the Cowanshannock. He conveyed it, with the Monticello, and about forty-eight acres of the ad- joining Nicholson tract, his moiety of the parcel of the Steel Semple tract, which he had purchased at sheriff's sale, Monticello island, and eighty acres on the west side of the river, to McKnight, Martin & Co., March 14, 1863, for $26,000. The firm name was afterward changed to McKnight, Porter & Co. They purchased a considerable additional quantity of land containing ore and coal. Embar- rassment caused them to suspend operations at the furnace, in 1875, and their property, including sixty-eight dwelling-houses for their operatives, was subsequently sold by their assignees. This furnace was in almost constant operation from its completion until it went out of blast, and afforded employment in all its departments to a large num- ber of employés, at times to about two hundred. Its product aggregated 60,000 tons of pig-iron, which found a market in Pittsburgh and Kittan- ning. Between 1866 and 1874 20,000 tons of Lake

375

VALLEY TOWNSHIP.

Superior ore were mixed with the native ores in this region, producing a superior quality of neutral iron, well adapted to the manufacture of nails, hoop-iron and tool-steel.

Guthrie's run, which empties into the Allegheny at the railroad station, was named after a teamster by the name of Guthrie, whose team of four mules slipped on the ice over the precipice at its month, years ago, cansing his and their death. The dis- mal hollow along this run has, until within a few years, been a terror to the superstitious who had occasion to pass it after night. Some have remained away from their homes all night rather than pass it in the dark.

The patent for Monticello Island, opposite the month of Limestone run, in the Allegheny river, was granted to John Q. Sloan, March 2, 1814, which he devised to William Q. Sloan, by his will, dated January 18, 1816, who conveyed it to Samuel Hutchinson, November 19, 1833, and he con- veyed it to Robert E. Brown, August 28, 1849. It- once contained between four and five acres, which were cultivated as late as 1874. The last tree on it, with several feet of the soil around its roots, was swept away by the ice in March, 1875. A large sandbar is now the only vestige of that once beautiful island.

The Monticello postoffice, kept at the furnace store, was established July 15, 1864, William Ache- son, postmaster, and was discontinued February 15, 1876. The Allegheny Valley railroad was ex- tended to this point, and the Cowanshannock sta- tion was established here in the latter part of 1865 or the fore part of 1866.

Next below " Monticello " was the John Nichol- son tract, covered by warrant No. 5163, 400 acres, dated February 15, 1794. He conveyed it, March 9, 1797, to James Buchanan, and he to Alexander Craig and Robert Patrick, February 6, 1798. They conveyed it to John Patrick, March 18, 1811, for five shillings. Patrick agreed in his lifetime to sell thirty-nine acres and seventy-one perches of the northwestern part of this tract to Robert Brown, but died without executing a deed, which necessi- tated the proof of the contract after his death, in the proper court. The residue and 100 acres cov- ered by application No. 632, made by William Elliott, and adjoining the Nicholson tract on the east, which Elliott conveyed to Patrick, December 25, 1807, for five shillings, was subsequently divided into three purparts in proceedings in par- tition in the orphans' court of this county. The one marked "A," extending to the Allegheny river, contained 191 acres and 150 perches, which William Coulter, the administrator, by order of the

conrt, sold to Joseph Patrick, an heir of John Patrick, on the second Monday of May, 1841, for $1,051.15, which he conveyed to James W. Coulter, November 10, 1846, for $600, who conveyed it to Rev. B. B. Killikelly, J. E. and R. E. Brown, May 3, 1847, for the last-mentioned sum. From a re- cital in the deed from Jeremiah Bonner to Daniel Fish, September 17, 1849, thirty acres of this pur- part appears to have been conveyed by Joseph Patrick to Jeremiah and James C. Bonner, Novem- ber 10, 1846. The latter conveyed this parcel to Fish for $121. It was conveyed by John Mech- ling, then sheriff of this county, to Philip Temple- ton, December 12, 1850, for $230, who conveyed it to James G. Henry, Samuel G. W. Brown and Robert B. Brockett, January 3, 1873, for $2,000. Brown conveyed his undivided moiety to his co- purchasers, April 25, for $1,000. This parcel con- tains several stone-quarries-it abounds in the Pottsville conglomerate sandstone-it used to be called Templeton's " stone farm." The present proprietors laid out upon this property the town of Brockettsville, which has not yet grown into magnitudinous proportions ; it is still a hamlet of four or five buildings, in which lots have been laid out. The principal street is named Modoc avenue,

Brockett & Henry conveyed two of these lots, Nos. 16 and 17, situated on that avenue, to Matilda A. McAnulty, November 5, 1873, for $150.

James Patrick purchased the purpart marked "B," adjoining "A" on the east, containing 196 acres and 110 perches, for $1,303.05, second Mon- day of May, 1841, which he conveyed to Abraham Fiscus, October 14, 1842, for $1, and 124 acres and 99 perches, part of the Henry Reed tract, which he still owns and occupies. Fisens entered into an agreement with James Galbraith, February 2, 1858, to convey the major part of this parcel to him for some real estate in the borongh of Kittanning, and in Paulding county, Ohio, but having died, the following summer, without executing a deed, his administrator, by order of the proper court, exe- cnted one for 144 acres and 75 perches to Gal- braith, the present owner. Fiscus had in his life- time conveyed the residue of that purpart to his sons, Christopher and James, who subsequently conveyed the same to Jackson Boggs, in exchange for other parcels of land in Kittanning township.

John Patrick's administrator sold purpart "C," 160 acres and 30 perches, to Peter Boyers, June 22, 1841, for $488.57, which included the tract covered by warrant to William Elliott, No. 632, 100 acres, and which Elliott conveyed to Patrick, December 25, 1807, for "five shillings specie," that being the

376

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

only consideration expressed in the deed. It was in the sharp bend of the Cowanshannock on this Elliott tract that Patrick built his sawmill, in 1819, and with which he was assessed from 1820 till his death in 1826. It was assessed for two years there- after to Margaret Patrick. It was a very substan- tial structure. James Thompson, father of Robert and Henry Thompson, of Pine township, settled here in 1815, and was assessed the next year as a millwright. James Patrick, a brother of John Patrick, settled here in 1816, and was first assessed as a single man the next year. They did the work in the erection of that mill, in which considerable quantities of oak, poplar, hemlock, cherry and black- walnut boards were sawed, some of which were three feet wide. Boyers conveyed this entire pur- part to Alexander Colwell, June 7, 1843, for $310, and the latter to Jeremiah Bonner, June 16, 1851, in pursuance of a previous agreement, for $600, on which, at or near the site of the sawmill, he erected the Cowanshannock furnace, in 1845, and with which he and his brother, James C. Bon- ner, were first assessed in 1846. It was thereafter assessed to the former until 1850, John Hudson paying the taxes on it in 1849. It was assessed to James E. Brown, and to Brown and McConnell, and operated by Brown and Barr from 1850 till 1853, when the assessment list indicates it was "not in blast." It was a charcoal, cold blast, quarter stack furnace, eight feet across the bosh, and produced two and a half tons a day.

Jeremiah Bonner erected a large frame gristmill with three runs of stone and a corn crnsher near that furnace, in 1845-6, which he conveyed, some years since, to James S. Quigley, its present owner.

Next below that Nicholson tract along the river was the one covered by warrant No. 5847, 216 acres and 18 perches, granted December 8, 1803, to Robert Patrick, who had probably settled on it soon after the Indian hostilities ceased. The patent to him is dated February 28, 1816. He was a brother of the above-mentioned John Patrick. Both of them served as militia men and sconts in different terms along the valley of the Allegheny river in 1791-2-3. Robert served one term of two months under Capt. John Craig, and another of two months under Capt. William Donahue, in 1791; two months in 1792 under Capt. Joseph Dilworth, and two months as a volunteer under Capt. Elliott in 1793. The fact of his having rendered those services is verified by his own affidavit, October 21, and he is corroborated by the affidavits of Col. Robert Walker and Capt. John Craig, October 31, 1837. Furthermore, the writer obtained a land warrant for his widow, Barbara Patrick, to which

she was entitled under the act of Congress passed September 28, 1850. By his will, dated February 2, 1841, and probated February 16, 1846, he pro- vided that his land should be sold after his wife's death, and the proceeds, after paying certain lega- cies, be equally divided among his children. The executor, James Galbraith, having filed his declina- tion to serve, Jonathan E. Meredith was appointed administrator, cum testamento annexo, who, by vir- tne of an order of the proper court, sold that tract, less 24} acres, to Gen. Robert Orr, June 4, 1859, by public outcry, for $4,100, to whose estate it still belongs. The eastern terminus of the Helms Ferry was near the center of the western or river line of this track. The above-mentioned 24} acres are a part of a trapezoidal portion of the southern part of the tract which seems, on the connected drafts of this and the tract next below it, to pro- ject into the latter, 13 acres and 102 perches of which Patrick conveyed to James Watterson, May 7, 1829, for $64.28, on which the latter operated a distillery for several years. Patrick, by his deed, dated September 29, 1830, granted to Watterson, in common with all others, the right to travel on a road which he had opened from the Allegheny river, beginning at a corner at the intersection of the Olean road with his line; thence by out-lots of Daniel Lemmon north 88 degrees east 38 perches to a white-oak corner called for in his survey ; thence south 2 degrees west by Lemmon's and James Gibson's lots to the premises which he had granted to Watterson, over which all persons were to enjoy the right of way with equal rights and privileges with himself and without molestation or hindrance on his part. Watterson agreed to sell this parcel to James Stewart, who afterward agreed to sell his interest in it to Daniel Lemmon, to whom Watterson conveyed it, March 28, 1840, for $150. It afterward hecame vested in his son, Thomas McC. Lemmon, from whom it was pur- chased, as containing 14 acres, by the Catholic Cemetery Company of St. Mary's church, Kittan- ning, May 5, 1873, for $3,000. Eight acres have been laid out for the cemetery into five sections, subdivided into 596 lots, 10×20 feet, valued at from $25 to $50. Four lots, 40 × 40 feet, each valued at $100. The Main or Central avenue and the Grand avenue around the entire grounds are each 40 feet wide. The rest of this company's premises consists of two green plats, one on each side of the central avenue and west of the above- mentioned sections, with a picnic ground in the southwestern corner of the southern plat; of a piece of woodland and ground for building lots west of the green plats, through which a serpentine road 30

377

VALLEY TOWNSHIP.

feet wide extends from the western line of these premises to the foot of the central avenue. Eleven building lots have been laid out, each of which, except a triangular one, is 50×100 feet. Seven of them have been sold at $150 each. The proceeds of their sales are applied toward paying the pur- chase money for the entire premises. This tongue of the Patrick tract on which these premises are situated has been considerably improved by the Cemetery Company since it come into their posses- sion. It was naturally a piece of rough, stony, hilly ground, so much so that it was probably pur- posely surveyed around and excluded from the adjoining tract. Patrick also sold 10 acres and 138 perches adjoining this cemetery parcel on the south to John Mosgrove.

Next below the Robert Patrick tract was the tract* granted to Col. John Armstrong by virtue of "a proprietary letter to the secretary, dated May 29, 1771," surveyed November 5, 1774, and the patent was granted by John Penn, March 22, 1775. The major part of this tract lay north of the pur- chase line of 1768, in territory which was not purchased from the Indians until thirteen years after the inception of Armstrong's title, which, however, has never been invalidated. The north- ern end of "Victory," as this tract was called, seems to be penetrated by the above-mentioned trapezoidal portion or tongue of the Robert Patrick tract, as they are presented on connected drafts.

Gen. Armstrong's executors, James Armstrong and Thomas Duncan, were authorized by his will to sell all his personal and real estate that might remain after the payment of his debts and a legacy of £50. The first sale made by them of any part of "Victory," after the laying out of Kittanning, was of " three triangular lots at the northeast cor- ner " of that town, May 19, 1808, for $100. If they were "at the northeast corner," they would include a part of the new cemetery. But one of them is the triangle, formed by a line drawn from the southeastern corner of out-lot No. 27 to the south- eastern corner of Mulberry street, which appears to have been divided into nineteen small "coal lots," or " coalbank lots," as surveyed many years ago by Robert Orr, Jr., one of which, No. 5, Beatty con- veyed to Matthew Kern, September 10, 1815, for $28. Divers other persons became possessed of the rest. No. 16 was conveyed by Richard Graham to James McCullough, Sr., in 1829, which the lat- ter conveyed to Anderson & Marshall, March 26, 1873, for $60. Coal lot No. 17 was conveyed by Beatty to John Donaldson, September 15, 1815, for $17. Beatty conveyed another of those " triangular

lots," " adjoining to Mulberry and Mckean streets," to David Reynolds, September 15, 1817, for $20, whose executors, Alexander and Absalom Rey- nolds, conveyed it to John Scott, April 23, 1849, for $345. Beatty conveyed the other or lowest of those three "triangular lots," "beginning at a hickory," the southernmost corner of "Victory," "on the bank of the Allegheny river; thence up said river 53 perches to the end of Walnut street," etc., containing 62 acres, to George Crawford, Sep- tember 2, 1813, for $270, which the latter devised to his daughter Sarah, wife of John A. Patterson, of Westmoreland county, which, with in-lot No. 169 and the half of in-lot No. 175, in Kittanning, they conveyed to Jonathan H. Sloan, and he conveyed that triangular lot below Walnut street to Alex- ander Colwell, William F. Johnston and Horatio N. Lee, trustees of the Kittanning Iron Works Company, 54 acres, August 4, 1847, for $2,600, on which stands the rolling-mill. Now the question is, who erred in describing these " three triangular lots " as lying "at the northeast corner of Kittan- ning ?" Was it the person who drew the deed from Armstrong's executors to Beatty, or Paul Morrow's clerk who recorded it ?

Dr. James Armstrong conveyed two other par- cels, containing respectively 2 acres more or less, and 2 acres and 16 perches, to Robert Brown, Octo- ber 18, 1809, for $130. A part of the description of the former is "up the river to where the road from Kittanning to Helms' ferry strikes the same." Brown conveyed the other to Robert Stewart, Jan- uary 1, 1813, who operated on it the first brickyard * in this part of the county.

The next sales of parcels of "Victory" were by Dr. James Armstrong, October 25, 1810 : To Rob- ert Brown 12 acres, "beginning at a post in the northeasternmost part of the town of Kittanning," for $25; and another parcel contiguous thereto, to David Lawson, 10 acres and 130 perches for $48.75. Both parcels are described as adjoining out-lots in Kittanning. Brown conveyed 7 acres and 80 perches, December 30, 1811, and 6 acres and 14 perches, July 19, 1817, to Matthias Bowser, 7 acres of which, parts of both parcels, Bowser conveyed to David Reynolds, April 19, 1823, for $150, which, with 8 acres and 4 perches of the 61 acres which the latter purchased from the Armstrongs, August 13, 1821, make the parcel which Franklin Reynolds conveyed to the Kittanning cemetery.t

Lawson conveyed the above-mentioned 10 acres and 130 perches to Matthias Bowser, January 1, 1812, for $82, which, with the residne of his pur-

*See its boundaries in general sketch of the eounty.

*See sketch Kittanning borough.

¡ See sketch of Kittanning borough.

378

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

chase from Brown, Bowser's widow and heirs con- veyed to Thomas McConnell, March 23, 1849, for $845.62, and which the latter conveyed to James E. Brown, the present owner, September 12, 1851, for the last-mentioned consideration:

Dr. James Armstrong conveyed 22 acres and 102 perches, " contiguous to Kittanning," on the east, to Paul Morrow, October 25, 1810, for $226, which the latter conveyed to Thomas Hamilton, February 19, 1818, for $550. "Donbts having arisen " as to whether Dr. Armstrong alone " could legally and effectually convey " this parcel to Morrow, he and his brother John Armstrong, for the purpose of assuring Hamilton's title, subsequently conveyed it to him. Thomas McConnell's administrators conveyed "4 or 5 acres" of it and Kittanning out-lots Nos. 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, in pursuance of an article of agreement dated May 28, 1831, to David Reynolds for $1,000. These 4 or 5 acres-5 acres and 2 perches, as ascertained by a recent survey- are mentioned in that agreement as "woodland." This parcel, now owned by Absalom Reynolds, in- cludes the Reynolds grove. The remainder of these 22 acres and 102 perches was devised by Thomas Hamilton to Miss Margaret Lemmon, now Mrs. Margaret Nulton. It extended southwardly between the borough line and the eastern line of " Victory," across the old state road and the hollow back of the present court-house, to a point in Mrs. Margaret Colwell's orchard, where the intersection of these two lines forms an acute angle. The tri- angular parcel of it sonth of the hollow, containing 60 perches, more or less, was conveyed by John F. and Margaret Nulton to Mrs. Colwell, November 24, 1869, for $500. The reservoir of the Kittan- ning water-works is in the northeastern part of the parcel north of the hollow. This parcel was trav- ersed diagonally by the Anderson creek road, from a point a few rods north of the present jail, before the opening of the Clearfield turnpike. That road was opened and laid out by virtue of the act of assembly of January 27, 1819, and extended from Kittanning to Anderson's creek to intersect the road from Belle Fonte to Erie, Pennsylvania, with a bearing of 584° cast through Valley township. That creek flows from the northwestern part of Clearfield county and empties into the west branch of the Susquehanna, a short distance above Cur- wensville. The sum of two thousand five hun- dred dollars was appropriated by the act of April 26, 1821, for opening that road, to be expended in Clearfield, Jefferson, Indiana and Armstrong counties, in proportion to the distance it extended through each. For the amount expended in this county the governor was authorized to draw his

warrant in favor of James Hannegan and Joseph Marshall.

The other portions of " Victory" were not sold by the Armstrongs until the lapse of a decade from the last of their above-mentioned sales. They, however, leased parts of it in the meantime, for instance, to Michael Mechling, that part be- tween what they had sold along the northern line of Kittanning and the parcel since occupied by Rev. B. B. Killikelly, and still higher up between the present bed of the Allegheny railroad .and the base of the hill. The lessee had the use of what he cleared and fenced, for five years, according to Philip Mechling's recollection. The part near the hill was covered principally with white-oak tim- ber and the portion westward to the river, with hickory, black-walnut, chestnut, beech, buttonwood and some maple. The trees were thrifty. The annnal yield of white and black walnuts, of a large size, was abundant. Before and after 1805 a wagon road extended from the stone quarry along the base of the hill, over which the stone obtained from the hillside, back of where Quigley's sawmill now is, for building the first jail of this county, was hauled. When it became badly cut up it was abandoned and another one substituted near where the railroad track now is, which continued to be used until the Olean road was laid out along the river bank.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 80

Author: Smith, Robert Walter Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins Number of Pages: 790

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790